URGENT: Call to action to oppose SB 6503, the 5% paycut (furlough) bill

BULLETIN: We have just received word that SB 6503, the furlough bill, will be voted on by the Senate Ways and Means Committee Thursday afternoon and by the full Senate on Friday.
It is critical you contact your senator to oppose SB 6503.

CALL TO ACTION:
So, call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000 or go here to send an email message.

Urge your senator to oppose SB 6503, the state employee furlough bill. Savings are questionable, it increases the costly overtime problem and jeopardizes the quality services the public expects and deserves. Repeal tax loopholes instead.
Again, if you say nothing more than oppose SB 6503, say that. Call 1-800-562-6000.

BACKGROUND:

FYI:  SB 6503 does not mean if you take the temporary layoff and 5 percent pay cut that you will save the job of a co-worker targeted for layoffs. Massive layoffs will still come.

SB 6503 cut your pay 5 percent via temporary layoffs on 16 days between March 2010 and June 2011. The temporary layoffs would come by closing offices and some operations one day a month.
You can also go to the Federation website at www.wfse.org and send an e-mail to lawmakers.

BILL TO BOOST LABOR REPS ON BOARDS OF TRUSTEES BOOSTED

The Federation on Wednesday strongly supported HB 2751 to add a labor representative to the board of trustees of every state community college.

Rodolfo Franco, who works for the Seattle Community College District and is president of Local 304, said HB 2751 would bring boards in line with technical colleges, which already have labor reps.

"House Bill 2751 will bring a new level of equity and collaboration to the governance of our community colleges," Franco told the House Higher Education Committee. "Too often, boards of trustees act in a vacuum and make decisions without all the facts about what it takes on the front line to keep our colleges safe, clean and a good environment for the students to learn.

"Many conflicts can be avoided by simply giving labor a voice at the trustees' table. Without that, classified staff can often get left out and many great money-saving ideas are lost."

HB 2751 is sponsored by Rep. Mike Sells, D-38th Dist.

CAPITOL NUGGETS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Nugget No. 1. Federation Lobbyist Alia Griffing testified Wednesday morning that a bill refocusing the Department of Commerce and transferring some duties to other agencies must retain language protecting bargaining rights of employees who move with the work. HB 2658 came before the House Community and Economic Development and Trade Committee.

Nugget No. 2. The bill to transfer the state School for the Blind and the state School for the Deaf (now called the State Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss) to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction was opposed by advocates for the blind and deaf. SB 6491 came before the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee Wednesday morning.